A positive sign of the times? The Newsquest-owned South Wales Argus is appealing for citizen reporters "to give us the really local news in their area." It says: "If you've got your ear to the ground in your neighbourhood, you could be telling our readers".

Given Newsquest's track record there will be a suspicion that this is nothing more than a way of compensating for staff cuts. Maybe it is. But this is how it's going to be in papers across Britain in the coming months.